Realization #1: Apparently only absolutely amazing food can make my stomach unhappy. Like the Ethiopian food last spring. Though since no caves were involved this experience was not nearly so dramatic. I got hungry in a market on Monday (the 1st if you’re keeping tabs on my dates) and decided that it would be a good idea to pay Sol./.2.50 (about 93 cents) for a really big bowl of soup, a piece of grilled fish, rice, and some sautéed vegetables. It was completely worth the time I spent in the bathroom in the following 24 hours. However, unless your stomach is as steely as mine apparently is, I do not recommend frequenting the stands in markets. A lot of students in our program have gotten some form of food poisoning. And not the comparatively nice upset-stomach that constitutes food poisoning for me. I mean ‘completely incapacitating everything you’ve ever eaten in your life spewing out both ends so fast you don’t even have the time to make it 10 feet to the toilet’ food poisoning. No, this is not an exaggeration. Most of them are careful about handwashing, silverware wiping, fruit cleaning, and other precautions which I should probably be taking but normally don’t bother with since after eating street pani puri in India with God knows what kind of water I’m convinced that nothing edible will kill me. (Mum, in my defense, it was Deepak’s fault… but he also got me from Alaknanda to Select City Walk in about 13 minutes, including a road-side conversation with a classmate…) But I hope it gets better with time. Realization #2: I finally figured out why I couldn’t find oranges here. They’re green. Yeah, that’s right. Green oranges. You would think that after Sapna made me feel like an idiot in India from thinking that a round green citrus fruit was a lime, I would never make that assumption again. In my defense, they’re also not as good as oranges in Florida anyway. But non-Floridan oranges rarely are. In other news, this week was a week of exams. We had 3 in total, all of which were essay/compositions and so weren’t terrible. Multiple choice is tricky enough in English let alone when you’re not sure if you even understand the question or not. I also realized that as annoying as paperwork/logistics are in person, it’s about 7,000 times worse when you’re out of the country. In the last two weeks Dr. Hardman has been kind enough to attend an award ceremony in my stead, Mallika has submitted my 2010-11 USP application, Kel dealt with a mentoring program application, I had a phone interview from Hong Kong, Dad had to deal with my FAFSA, and I have to apparently schedule another phone interview during Holy Week even though I have no idea where I’ll be or if I’ll even have phone service… Many thanks to everyone who has helped me with logistical issues. I also have to read a book called ‘Los Diez Mandamientos en el Siglo XXI’ (The Ten Commandments in the 21st century), write a 4 page paper/summary on it, and give a 15 minute presentation at some point. That’ll be fun. Apparently it’s due this week? Although after the ridiculous amount of writing I did last semester (200+ pages), 4 pages is peanuts, even if it is in Spanish. Friday, we went to Hutata, a community close to Chinchero (ruins north of Cusco which I visited about 3 weeks ago) to build/fix up a school house in an orphanage. We sanded, stained, and installed doors, painted walls, and moved this giant pile of dirt and clay so rain water will run away from the school house, not towards it. That was pretty epic if I do say so myself. We went back Saturday to finish up, and it’s absolutely beautiful now. It barely looks like the same building. Realization #3: Somehow, despite being the youngest and drinking less than most people I know, I will always be in charge of preparing alcohol. I’m not really sure how that always seems to happen, but it does. On Saturday we decided to go to fútbol match on Sunday. This of course required appropriate preparation, meaning roughly 3 liters of Jello (roughly 2 liters of which was vodka…) Needless to say that I just turned 20 and everyone with me was happily over 21, so how is it that I was the only one who could make jello shots? Lol, it’s like when I was 17 and Sue (my cousin who was at least 42) called me on a Friday night and asked me how to pour layered shots. “Why are you asking me? I’m 17!” “Well, do you know?” “Yeah….” “That’s why I’m asking you” I also once had to explain to a 23 year-old what a mimosa was. That was funny. I wonder if he knew that I mixed mimosas for my dad and two cousins when I was about 13… Anyway. Our 19 year old host brother who is the quiet, serious, not very social type walked in to this tiny kitchen (about ½ the size of a kitchen in a normal Gainesville apartment, less than ½ the size of the one in Alaknanda) to Lauren laughing hysterically draining a bottle of vodka into lime-green jello. He promtly turned on his heel and walked out again. We have 4 days free this weekend though. I’m still trying to figure out if I can go dune-boarding (like snowboarding but on sand dunes!!) or if I can find someone who wants to come to Arequipa and see the Colca Canyon – twice as deep as the Grand Canyon. Oh, that reminds me, I did find a not-completely-terrible Indian restaurant here. Considering it’s not in India, London, or my mum’s kitchen, it’s not bad, but it’s still not great. One of the Australians I went with mentioned that it was the best Indian food he’d ever eaten… and then I felt bad for him. I don’t think I’ll be going back there though… 12 soles (yeah, $4, I know) is actually quite a bit for a meal here. I can’t wait for real Indian food again. Speaking of India, my mum sent me this link to 40 amazing pictures of India plus captions. If you get a chance, take a look. They’re really awesome! Hope all’s well wherever you are. Regardless of how many job interviews, internships, homework assignments, labs, or miscellaneous other things you have to do in the next couple weeks. Also, to everyone at UF, have an awesome spring break this week! -Geeta